cloth,  p., $14.95
Shumel Thaler's masterful photography reveals the incredible texture of pumpkin plants in all stages of growth. Based on a similarly titled, award-winning video, this picture book includes exciting close-ups of pumpkin innards, springy tendrils and hairy flowers. The creative layout, too, enhances the experience so that curly stems almost jump across the page. Shades of orange, yellow and green dominate against a background of black or blue. With such opening lines as "The pumpkin seed makes the pumpkin plant and the pumpkin plant makes pumpkins," children will remember vividly the cycle of growth that is repeated at the poetically told story's end. George Levenson is not only the author of the book and the director of the video, but also the filmmaker of Sadako and the Thousand Cranes. Useful for children ages 4 to 10.
— Nancy McCray